By ARIE EGOZI (Israel)

The U.S. Army is evaluating the next generation “Trophy VPS,” a smaller, lighter variant of Trophy Active Protection Systems that will provide protection to a broader range of U.S. ground combat vehicles.

Recently, Leonardo DRS and Rafael (the Israeli company that developed the Trophy), have completed delivery of Trophy APS ordered by the U.S. Army for installation on their Abrams main battle tanks. This marks a major milestone in the Army’s efforts to outfit multiple brigades of tanks with APS to protect soldiers’ lives against increasing anti-armor threats.

Under contracts awarded on an urgent need basis by the Army’s Program Executive Office for Ground Combat Systems, the companies delivered the first APS systems in September 2019 for both the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. A joint team of government and industry from both the U.S. and Israel worked together to adapt and integrate Trophy for the two services’ Abrams variants. 

Developed by Rafael in response to successful anti-armor attacks and the ongoing proliferation of those threats, Trophy APS provides mature, combat-proven protection against rockets and missiles while simultaneously locating and reporting the origin of the hostile fire for immediate response. 

Trophy is the only fully integrated, combat-proven APS in the world. In addition to the U.S. Abrams tanks, Trophy is currently installed on the Israel Defense Forces’ Merkava Main Battle Tanks and Namer APCs. It has made numerous combat interceptions with no injuries to crews, dismounted troops or damage to platforms since its first operational interception in 2011.

– Arie Egozi is a defence writer based in Israel.